Well, the work on the modular book is almost complete, just tweaking an interview this morning before my Friday afternoon indulgence. I wrote some tips at the outset, just in case they were needed, but seems they won't be. Mine are more generic than those appearing anyway so I'll paste them here for no very good reason.
I also just knocked up a sort of P3 Playlist discussion document that I should put somewhere too, since the potential of playlists seems to have passed most people by.
I bought another bandcamp download - from a guy who has got 'Michael Hoenig sequencing' nailed. Unfortunately, he forgot that Departure From The Northern Wastelands was composed, varied and had a lot more going for it than simply repeating the formula on 4 long tracks. It's rather headache-inducing but arguably as interesting as 'Early Water' ;)
Can't decide whether to make today a 'program the Blofeld' day or more explorations of Marbles and Stages.
Oh, I cancelled my Moog Grandmother. They are now saying another couple of months and since I paid up in May, thought I'd get the money back and have it sit in my account. I may eventually get one but then again I may not. Nice to see Gordon's review as being the only one so far to make a point of mentioning the filter being different. He did the usual Keith Emerson thing, of course, so I still don't know if I could do TD-type sequences with it. Enjoyed reading reviews by Simon and Rory, means I can happily slide into the background and not leave a gap. Splendid!
A pleasant day droning produced this on the Synthi, Perfourmer and Morphagene:
https://wilyepeyote.bandcamp.com/track/without-music
Modular Tips #1
Creative use of panning
Remember that panning need not be reserved for moving audio around the stereo spectrum. It can be a means of moving it smoothly between different processing options. A panning module with a CV input will allow you to use dynamics, an envelope, randomness etc. to determine the processing your signal receives - and simple ideas such as morphing between reverb or delay are only the start.
You can never have too many...
Envelopes - especially if they have a complex or voltage-controllable shape. Try triggering them randomly, sparsely or in quirky patterns to modify tone, generate sudden flurries of modulation or unexpected accelerandos of delay time.
After a while you might consider planning more complex trigger conditions for them, varying their gate lengths or nicking the Krell's technique of randomizing envelope times. Envelope-sourced pixie dust is usually less predictable than the LFO-sourced variety and can generate pleasant surprises to punctuate any manual performance or sequence.
Re-use modulation sources
One of the great temptations in a growing modular system is to use all your modulation sources most of the time. Yes, you can add movement, unpredictability and wild variation if you patch in every LFO you've got. However, this can have the same effect as filling a pallete with every colour then pretending you really wanted another variation on 'filthy brown'.
Fewer modulation sources creatively spread around (e.g. inverted, attenuated, multiplied and generally repeated) can add clarity and identity to your patches. Knowing when a patch is 'done' keeps the brown at bay and is a true sign of modular mastery.
Floating Multiples
I bought too many of these once then realised how useful it is to have lots around. Not only are they always in the right place, unlike regular multiples, but they serve as brilliant cable extenders. Having a lot of them means you can almost treat them like stackables, those ununsed holes want to be used. Helps with the previous tip.
Which leads to...
Use fewer modules but interact with them more.
It's wonderful to spend an afternoon patching up a monster drone to evolve over several ice ages without being touched and without repeating - let's keep doing that, obviously! But hands-on interaction and resistance to over-patching leads to a better rapport with your modules and a deeper grasp of their range and personality. Then, when you do turn to external modulation, you'll have a more instinctive grasp of what to expect.
Finally...
Remember: for the price of a 4-channel Eurorack mixer module with token CV control but limited functionality otherwise, consider buying a decent 12-16 track external mixer with EQ, multiple auxes and buses, maybe internal effects and, of course, large friendly sliders. One day someone will make one that's fine-tuned for Eurorack levels and connectivity.
Plus
Try things that make no sense.
Like electing Trump or voting for Brexit. Admittedly, you might be speeding up the Global Apocalypse. But maybe after all the pain something good will spontaneously happen that those cautious, boring, whining, sane people never predicted.
